Opinion: Spielberg Backs Clinton
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The ending has been written to a Hollywood cliffhanger: Mega-successful filmmaker Steven Spielberg, after an initial interest in Barack Obama, is officially in the Hillary Clinton camp.
In a statement released this morning by the Clinton campaign, Spielberg said that after familiarizing himself ‘with the impressive field of Democratic candidates,’ he had decided that the New York senator and former First Lady ‘is the most qualified candidate to lead us from her first day in the White House.’
You can read the rest of the statement here.
The Times’ Tina Daunt, who pens the Calendar section’s Cause Celebre column, saw this one coming. Last Friday, she wrote that it appeared ‘Hollywood’s infatuation with Sen. Barack Obama was just a flirtation before it settles down with its longtime girlfriend,’ Clinton.
Daunt went on to note that Spielberg, ‘once considered a solid supporter of Illinois Democrat Obama, is now believed to be leaning in favor of Clinton.’ And Tina will be writing about this latest development for Thursday’s print edition.
Endorsements are one of those rituals in the campaign process with a debatable impact. They don’t hurt, and in some cases a celebrity’s embrace may win a candidate a second look from some members of the public. But lots of politicians boasting impressive supporter lists have gone down to defeat. After all, when even the most ardent Indiana Jones fan is in a voting booth instead of a movie theater, how much will Spielberg’s nod to Clinton mean?
Still, in this case, his announcement is a matter of Clinton holding serve. His endorsement may not be a huge plus, but losing Spielberg to Obama would have been a blow to both the Clintons. It would have sent a signal that their time — at least in the eye of one masterful image-maker and storyteller — was past.
— Don Frederick